Gas holder



May 31 f 1927 A, H. T. wlLLaAMs GAS HOLDER Filed July 12. 1926 s sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR AHI WILLIAMS ATTO RNE Y.

iV AT LSBQM May 31 M271..

A. H. T. WILLIAMS GAS HOLDER Filed July 12. 192s 3 Sheets-Shefet 3 o7 ffm INVENTQR AJH/.7'. WILL/AMS iatente'd May 3l, i927.

STATES .ARTHUR E. T. WILLIAMS, F 'PORTLAND, REGON.

GAS HOLDER.

.application led July 12,

I PThis invention relates generally to gas holders, and particularly to aspecial form of holder in which a plurality of high-pressure holders are held within the usual water l space of a low-pressure holder.

rlhe first object of this invention is to provide a gas holder whose holding capacity fora given outside dimension is much greater than that of the ordinary .low-pressure l0 holder now in common use.

rllhe second object is to reduce the dangers and losses caused by leakage from highpressure holders by collecting any gas which may escape therefrom within the low-presll sure holder from which gas is delivered to the consumer. y

The third object is to reduce the loss of time and power ordinarily consumed in stepping pressures up and down for the purpose @0 of delivering it to distant points and for distributing it through the consumers mains.

rllhe fourth object is to construct a gas holder in which the maximum amount of gas' can be held with the expenditure of only a relatively small amount of labor. and with the requirement of the least possible amount of steel and other materials in its construction consistent with safety.

The fifth object is to construct a holder having such parts ordinarily subject to inspection made easily accessible therefor.

The sixth object is to construct a holder that certain of its units can be emptied and scoured to admit workmen, while other units can carry gas at full pressure thereby avoiding a shutdown of a holder whenever it is desired to make an inspection.

- The seventh object is to construct submerged high-pressure gas holder units in a 4 manner to overcome their natural buoyancy by providing special forms of anti-buoyancy rings.

The eighth object is to make it possible to deliver either high or low-pressure gas from a holder, separately or at the same time.

The ninth object is to construct a holder of large capacity without subjecting its foundation to enormous 'Y loads of water. This is' often of considerable importance 5 Jwhere holders must be placed `on made land or on -ground affording a poor footing fora foundation. This applies to new holders. Where the capacity of old holders is to be increased the weight on the foundation is f* actually reduced.

1926. Serial No. 121,801.

The tenth object is to make this arrangement readily applicable to new or existlng gas holders. thereby making it possible to increase the capacity of a holder without requiring the use of more ground space.

rlhese and other objects, will become more apparent from the specifica-tion following as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

v which Figure 1 is a. vertical section through a gas 65 holder equipped with a plurality of highpressure units installed in an existing holder. Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1. Figure 3 is' a vertical section of a modified form of holder also employing existing foundations. Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken along the broken line 4 4 in Figure 3. Figure 5 is a vertical section through the lower portion of a holder showing the high-pressure units installed on a foundation especially designed for the purpose. Figure 6 is an enlarged section through an anti-buoyancy ring showing its position between an highpressure shell and an existing foundation. Figure 7 is a diagrammatic plan of another form of high-pressure unit arrangement. Figure 8 is a side elevation of one of the units shown in Figure 7. Figure 9 is a diagrammatic plan of still another plan of high-pressure unit arrangement. Figure 10 is a side elevation of a pair of units shown in Figure 9. A

Similar numbers of reference refer to the same parts throughout the several views.

Referring in detail to the drawings, l have illustrated in Figuresl and 2 the usual form ot gas holder, including the foundation 11 on which is mounted the holder consisting of the tank 12 and bells or lifts 13 and v'14. which are held in correct relation by the guide frames 15. Structural details have been omitted for the purpose of simplifying the drawings. Riveted or welded joints may beused "as seems best.

Inside "of the lifts are placed a plurality of high-pressure units 16 which, in this instance, arejn the form ofspherical shells so arranged within the holder as to permit the introduction ofthe maximum number of units. at the same time keeping the units accessible for inspection. In this arrangement the central unit 16 isconnected to each of the outer units by a large pipe 17 through which a man can pass. Each pipe 17 is provided with a manhole cover 18. '11

les

Itis evident that each unit 16 which is submerged in the water 19 of the holder would, owing to its natural buoyancy, exert a tremendous lifting action on the foundation if merely attached thereto. To overcome this condition there are provided antibuoyancy rings 2() which may be attached to the units 16 by means of the ring 21, as shown' in Figure 6, and the ring 20, in turn, is'attached to the floor plate 22 by means of a second flanged ring 23. A suitable plastic composition 24 is placed between the members 20, 22, and 23. In some cases the ring 20t can be dispensed with by making the ring 21 a plain vertical wall whose lower end can be attached to the floor plate 22.

Ports 25 connect the ring 20 with its spherical unit 16. Each unit 16 is connected by means of a pipe 26 to the manifold 27 vwhich is provided with four valves 28, 29, 30 and 31. A branch 26A which is a high-pressure dischar e main, also leads from the pipes 26 an is providedwith a valve 26B. The valve 28 is between the4 pi e 26 and the manifold 27 and controls t e flow of gas to or from the spheres 16.

Low-pressure gas is taken from or admitted to the holder through 4the pipe 32 which connects with the manifold 27 through the valve 29. Gas from the source of supply enters the manifold 27 through the valve 30. The valve 31 controls the flow of gas from the manifold 27 to the main 33.

,Water must be kept out of the spaces under the spheres 16 within the rings 20 .and drain pipes 34 are provided to lead any leakage into the gutter 35. A tunnel 36 is also provided to give access to the central sphere 16 and for the operation of the various valves 37 in the pipes 26 which lead t0 the rings 20.

In the form shown in Figure 5, which illustrates a foundation designed for use with spherical units 16, a seat or depression is formed in the foundation 38 for each sphere 16, and each depression is provided 'with a drain pit 39 which prevents any ressure from being built up under the sp ere, which pressure would otherwise tend to lift the sphere.

In the modification illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, toroidal shell 40 is employed with rthe central shell 16A by means of which ac cess is gained to the outer shell 40 through the pipes 17A. In this case the anti-buoyancy ring 20A is smaller than the shell 40 and the rings 21A and ange 23A are proporf tionate in size. Frames 41 support the `shell 40 and frames 42 support the shell 16A.

An arched cover 43 spans the space between the members 40'and 16A and prevents water from getting under the high-pressure units. Although not illustrated in Figure 3, it is evident that the space from which water is excluded must be open to the atmosphere and drained.

No crown support for the low-pressure holder is indicated, but it can be seen that it will be as easy to support the crown from the tops of the high-pressure containers, as it is on the foundation itself.

In Figure 7 the high-pressure unit 44 takes the form of a clover leaf, thereby occupying the maximum amount of the water area of the holder compared with the other forms indicated. The respective lobes 45 of each unit may be cylindrical innature with hemispherical ends, or the end may be merely bulged. Stay-plates 46 are employed within the unit 44 to withstand the pressures to which the shell may be subjected. The structure of the unit 44 is only suggested herein but will be found fully explained in my co-pending application, erial Number 122,580.

In Figures 9 and 10 still another form of high-pressure container 16n is indicated. In this form, the outer shells 16B are somewhat cylindrical with rounded ends, while the central unit 47 is spherical, and is employed as a gateway to the outer shells. It is easy to see that the units 16B can also be turned to a vertical position, which makes them appear in plan as in Figure 2. In this case the shell 47 could be similar to the shells 16B.

The object in illustrating the various forms as shown is only to show that many different shapes and numbers of high-pressure units can be employed, rather than to advance any one form as best suited to all purposes. The particular type selected should be controlled by certain factors always present in the selection or designing of any type of gas holder.

In the past few years there has been a marked tendency to get away from the old style low-pressure holders as it has become a recognized fact that these holders carry only a relatively small amount of gas when compared with the cost of ground, maintenance and other items. Certain operators are goin into the use of elevated spheres and emp oying same as high-pressure holders, and others have resorted to the piston type of holders employing a tar seal for the piston.

While it is very desirable to store gas at higher pressures than are employed by the average consumer, the objection to doing so in the past has arisen from the fact that gas is extremely diicult to hold in metal containers at a high pressure when such containers are subjected to ordinary changes in temperature. It is a well known" fact that the annual loss of gas from 'highpressure containers is enormous.

In .this instance however, any gas which may escape from the high-pressure container llt,

will be caught by the low-pressure container and delivered to the consumer in the usual way instead of escaping into the atmosphere as a loss and a tire hazard.

Again, the high-pressure containers are submerged in water and ivill naturally have a very even and a low temperature. when compared with the out oi door high-pressure container whose structure naturally undergoes many and severe stresses during temperature changes, with the result that the seams are opened and gas escapes to the atmosphere.

By maintaining lou' temperatures within the high-pressure containers. correspondingly larger volumes of tree gas can he handled than would he possible with containers exposed to the Weather.

Another desirable feature of the holder above explained is that it lends itseliC easily to installation with both new and existing holders. The operation ot" the device is as follows: To admit gas trom a generating plant to the high pressure container. close valves 29 and 31 and open valves 2S and 30 until the desired amount of gas is ac cumulated within the high pressure container. A

To admit gas from the gas plant to the low pressure container close the valves 2S and 31 and open the valves 29 and 30. In sorne instances the valve 3l may remain open under such circumstances.

To admit gas from the high pressure containers to the low pressure container merely close the valves 30 and 3l and open the valves 28 and 29 and in some instances the valve 31 may remain open when it is desired to supply gas to the distributing main while supplying gas to the low pressure container.

I claim:

1. A gas holder having, in con'ihination, a low pressure gas container; a plurality of high pressure spherical gas containers wit-hin said low pressure container; means for supplying gas from said high pressure containers to said low pressure container; and means for preventing the accumulation of water under said high pressuie container consisting ot a Water-tight connection be.- tiveen the outer portions of said high pressure containers and the lloor ot said low pressure container.

2. A gas holder, having in combination, an outer lou' pressure gas holder; a plurality of high pressure spherical gas holders u'ithin said lou' pressure holder; means for supplying gas to said lou' pressure holder from said high pressurc holder; means for supplying gas to said high pressure holders; and means tor preventing the accumulation of Water under said high pressure containers.

3. A gas holder having, in combination, a foundation; an outer low pressure gas holder comprising a tank having a plurality of lifts; a plurality ol high pressuragas holders mounted on the foundation within said holder; a valve-controlled pipe between said high pressure shells and said low pressure holder a high pressure delivery pipe leading from said high pressure gas shells; a low pressure delivery pipe leading from said low pressure holder; and sealing means for preventing the accumulation ot water under said high pressure shells.

4. A gas holder having. in combination. an outer low pressure gas holding container including a plurality otl lifts for maintaining approximately uniform pressure therein; a plurality of rounded high pressure gas containers within said louT pressure container adapted to withstand submerged pressure obtainable Within said low pressure container; valve controlled pipe means for connecting said high and low pressure containers; a valve controlled high pressure gas pipe for supplying said low pressure containers; a low pressure gas delivery pipe discharging from said low pressure container; and means for preventing the accumulation of water under said high pressure containers.

ARTHUR H. T. VILLIAMS. 

